Vancouver airport fully operational Saturday after hundreds of cancellations due to Friday's storm - Action News
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Vancouver airport fully operational Saturday after hundreds of cancellations due to Friday's storm

Air traffic resumed at Vancouver airport on Christmas Eve, a day after more than 300 flights were cancelled due to a snowstorm.

More than 300 flights were cancelled Friday as snow and freezing rain swept through the region

A line of travellers waits with luggage at an airport, most of them wearing multiple layers. The floor is icy and grimy due to precipitation outside.
Travellers are pictured at YVR International Airport earlier this week after multiple delays due to weather. The airport authority said most operations resumed Saturday. (Ben Nelms/CBC)

Air traffic resumed at Vancouver International Airport (YVR)on Christmas Eve, a day after more than 300 flights were cancelled due to a snowstorm.

The airportcame toa virtual standstillon Fridayas WestJet, Air Canada and other operators called off hundreds of flights due to the secondsnowstorm in a week, which left some travellers stranded for days because of earlier flight cancellations.

Despite some delays, operations resumed on Saturday, airport officials said.

"Our airport is fully operational," Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority saidat a 10 a.m. PT news conference. "Some cancellations are coming through because of weather events in other parts of the country and other parts of the continent."

A white-haired woman stands at a podium at an airport, with a Christmas tree visible behind her.
Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of the Vancouver airport authority, said that flight operations were resuming at YVR after it was brought to its knees Friday by a wave of cancellations. (Yasmin Gandham/CBC)

About 87 per cent of scheduled flights were expected to run,YVRsaid at 11:30 a.m. PT. There had been 70 cancellations on Saturday compared with 323 on Friday.

The airport provided access to more than 400 hotel rooms and restaurant gift cards to passengers who faced overnight delays,YVR said in a releaseon Friday.

WATCH | Passengers on Friday faced uncertainty:

Week of winter storms brings Vancouver airport to a near standstill

2 years ago
Duration 1:00
Most flights were cancelled in Vancouver in the lead-up to Christmas Eve, with some passengers stuck in limbo for several days.

"We have had 145 bookings for our hotel services so far," Vrooman said on Saturday morning, notingabout 65,000 people areexpectedto travel through the airport today.

That's typical fora busy Christmas Eveweekend, she said, addingthat security screening was at its usual capacity.

"The runway is bare and wetand ready for Santa, as we head into Christmas Day tomorrow," she said.

Some of the chaos seen at Vancouver airport on Friday was caused by pre-emptive cancellations by WestJet, which suspended all flights into from late Thursday until Friday evening.

In a statement, the Calgary-based airline promised to expand their cancellation and refund policy due to the wave of suspensions.

"We sincerely apologize to guests who have been impacted by cancellations and delays resulting from severe winter weather across Western Canada," they said on Friday afternoon.

With files from Yasmin Gandham and Bethany Lindsay